Israeli Court Sentences Islamic Leader To Prison

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October 17, 1991

JERUSALEM — An Israeli military court in the occupied Gaza Strip on Wednesday sentenced the founder of an outlawed Islamic fundamentalist organization to life in prison. He probably will have to serve 25 years. Sheik Ahmed Yassin, a 53-year-old quadriplegic, has long been suspected by the army of being one of the leaders of the Palestinian uprising in the occupied territories. He pleaded guilty Wednesday to manslaughter for planning the killings of four Palestinians who were suspected of collaborating with Israel. He said he had organized the Islamic Resistance Movement, popularly known as Hamas, in 1987.